Diary for Pamela & Nick are travelling..


Take me to the beach

2012-01-19

Our last couple of weeks in Thailand were a great end to an awesome trip. After Koh Chang we headed back up to Bangkok and visited the school where I used to work. It was really nice to go back and see some students and teachers and doesn’t everyone love it when they go back to see old colleagues and they greet you with “Oh Pamela you have got fat! You look great!” Ah I love the Thai’s way with words. We also treated ourselves to a trip to the cinema to the VIP screening, an awesome experience that is worth the plane ticket to BKK alone. As we fully reclined our individual sofa seat, snuggled under a blanket, we were served juice and biscuits by a waitress before the film began. It was hard not to fall asleep, it was so comfy.

The next day we were joined by Charlotte and Jon, it was so weird to walk out of our hotel and see them standing there but so lovely to see familiar faces. We soon immersed them in Bangkok life, taking them down Kaoh San Road, eating pad thai, riding in tuk tuks, bartering, weaving through crowds of tourists, monks, stray dogs and endless people trying to sell you something. I think they liked it. We also visited Pat Pong, that is all I will say. For those of you who know about it, you will get the general idea. For those of you who don’t, it’s best to stay that way. We visited the Grand Palace and temples and took a day trip to the Tiger Temple. It was a great day, we got to walk a tiger and to sit with them and stroke them. Nick and I had been before (on separate occasions) but it was still great to go again, especially to take Charlotte and Jon.

After a long and hot day at the Tiger Temple we decided to help our feet out by going to one of those fish spa places. I was not keen at all but had my ‘go for it’ holiday attitude so in I went. Big mistake. This was the worst part of my entire 7 months away, it was soooo awful. Charlotte and I pretty much screamed, squirmed and whimpered all the way through, while the boys sat there laughing at us and having a beer. After that I needed a rest so to escape city life and fish that eat your feet, we took a trip to Ko Samet, the nearest island to Bangkok, where we relaxed on the beach, soaked up the sun, got massages, ate well and read lots.

We hired jet skis one day, which again (wimp that I am), I was not entirely keen on, so I was not surprised to find myself screaming for pretty much the entire 30 minutes we’d got them for. After a lot of coercion I found myself driving the jet ski which made me scream even more. I can only imagine how ridiculous it looked as a jet ski raced across the sea with me screaming and Nick laughing. After I had calmed down and got over that we hired scooters, which I was absolutely fine with... until we actually got on the road. Well to call it a road is extremely generous. To say dirt track may also be a bit of an understatement. It was like nothing else, the boys drove and me and Charlotte sat on the back (when our bums were actually on the seat) as we bumped over the worst terrain I’ve ever seen. Needless to say, I screamed a lot. To get over that, Charlotte and I had a foot massage while the boys went off and bumped around on their own, I am not sure if they screamed or not.

After a lovely time on Ko Samet we headed back to Bangkok and hit the shops. It was really nice to treat ourselves to things as we haven’t really been able to buy much in other countries. But as it’s so cheap in Thailand and we could fill our bags to the max, it was a great chance to get some stuff! So we spent our final day bartering and bargain hunting before having one last meal with Charlotte and Jon and then all of a sudden we were in a taxi heading to the airport for our flight back to England.

It felt like the last 200 days had gone so quickly, but it felt like forever ago that we started the trip. Our flight home was fine and we landed in a dark, cold and wet England feeling dazed and tired, so we got our hire car and headed straight to the first service station for a nutritious breakfast of a Double Decker and a bag of crisps. And just like that, we are home. We’re looking forward to seeing people, catching up and watching as much daytime TV as is humanly possible before we have to join the real world and get a job. The last 7 months have been the best of my life, with my best friend, we have loved (almost!) every minute and I cannot recommend travelling enough. Hope you have enjoyed our blog, and I apologise in advance to those of you who are going to have to listen to our boring anecdotes.

Lots of love, Pamela.